Aerial drop wire is a self-supporting wire for extending telephone plant from distribution cable to a subscriber in aerial applications. An exemplary drop wire comprises a plurality of insulated 22 gauge annealed copper conductors, a galvanized steel support cable, and a vinyl plastic jacket encasing the conductors and support cable in a manner that physically separates these two elements. A prior art method of splicing aerial drop wire is disclosed by AT&T Product Application Bulletin/Outside Plant--June 1977 second edition ("The Bulletin").
The Bulletin discloses that several items of hardware are required for splicing aerial drop wire. After the plastic jacket is cut so as to separate the support cable from the conductors, the support cable is then cut, stripped of its plastic jacket and rejoined using a bridge connector sold under the trademark Wirelink.RTM., model 5057N, as manufactured by Reliable Electric Co. of Franklin Park, Ill. Similarly, the conductors are stripped of their plastic jacket and individual insulation and then spliced together using 701-type connectors manufactured by AT&T Technologies, Inc. of New York, N.Y.
Subsequently, the conductor bundle is taped with polyethylene tape which replaces the plastic jacket as the dielectric barrier between support cable and the conductors. Next, the support cable joined by the Wirelink connector and the conductor bundle are taped together. Finally, a splicing case and sealing tape collars are introduced to encase and seal the spliced section of drop wire.
The plurality of items presently needed to splice aerial drop wire subjects the splice to the risk of damage caused by water, humidity, ice and other environmental factors. In addition, the time and labor required to construct such a splice is necessarily lengthy and expensive. The final disadvantage is that the quality of the splice is entirely dependent upon the quality of the workmanship so that the splice will be ineffective and weak if the taping, sealing or splicing are done poorly.